


Ishimondo Siren AU

by kuscospoison



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Naval Captain! Ishimaru, Siren Mondo is a big power bottom, Siren! Mondo, Smut, Taka thinks his gay protects him from the sirens, he is boo boo the fool
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:33:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22314859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuscospoison/pseuds/kuscospoison
Summary: When Captain Kiyotaka Ishimaru tries to catch a siren, he expects to be immune to their charms and their song. He quickly learns he was very wrong in that assumption.
Relationships: Ishimaru Kiyotaka/Oowada Mondo
Comments: 15
Kudos: 259





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I really like this AU idea but I'm not sure if I wrote it well. I have a lot more written, but I'm not gonna put it out unless I know what I have so far is decent.

Captain Kiyotaka Ishimaru could have begun his story with the words “it was a dark and stormy night,” however he hadn’t remembered a night on the high seas when the night wasn’t dark and stormy. Although tonight the waves were especially torrential and the moon was nowhere to be found. The water looked like liquid obsidian, endless swirls of black and unpredictable danger. 

“I don’t suppose reminding you that this is a suicide mission’ll make you change your mind, hm?” Leon grumbled as he was getting the net ready for their task. 

Taka chuckled. “Suicide for you, perhaps. I won’t be taken by those sirens, and you all will keep your ears covered. It’s a foolproof plan, now stop questioning your captain and finish getting everything ready!” He hummed and walked around the deck a bit, making sure everything was ready. The royal navy wanted specimens, wanted proof that creatures such as sea monsters and sirens existed, and Taka felt confident that he could deliver. He would be immune to the sirens’ song, he had no interest in women. It was his reason for joining the royal navy, after all. To avoid being forced into marriage. As long as the rest of the crew followed his signals, everything would go according to plan. 

They were just approaching the rocky island where surrounding siren activity had been reported, and Taka couldn’t help but take a deep, excited breath of the fresh sea air. Captain Ishimaru? More like Commodore Ishimaru, for certain. “Is everything ready?”

“As ready as we’ll ever be…” Chihiro mumbled, finishing up his knot tying for the ship’s sails. 

Hiro stepped forward. “I’m seriously getting a bad premonition about this, I think we should turn around.”

Taka rolled his eyes. “Let your premonitions rest, Hiro. Everything will be fine, the plan is foolproof! Now, I suggest you all have your ears covered so that we can get this started!” He laughed confidently and ignored the uneasy looks from his crew. 

As they came closer to the island, Taka made sure everything was ready, getting the net and making sure the tank they had was ready to be opened and used. He was just about to get on a lifeboat and lower it to accomplish his task when he felt Leon’s hand on his shoulder. 

“Let me come with, just in case!” Leon yelled, not able to monitor the volume of his voice since his ears were covered. 

Taka wanted to protest, to say he wouldn’t need any help, but Leon couldn’t hear him and probably wouldn’t have listened anyway. He could only sigh and nod, letting his crew member get on with him. 

“I’m sure you’re at least a little nervous, right? I mean, what if you find one that does manage to...y’know...draw you in?” Leon shouted.

Taka made a “so-so” gesture and shrugged, trying to focus on rowing towards the siren song. It was hauntingly beautiful, but Taka didn’t feel like he was all that charmed by it. Just appreciating something beautiful. 

Leon looked around, eyes wide. “Can you hear ‘em?”

Taka nodded. 

“And you’re not gettin’ drawn in or whatever?”

Taka shook his head. 

Leon nodded. “I had a cousin like that, ended up openin’ a tavern with some guy down at a port town. Most people call him his ‘close friend and business partner’.” Leon snorted. “I think you and I know what that actually means, yeah?”

Taka blushed and scowled at him, then stopped rowing as he saw the water move as if something was swimming under it. He grabbed the net, ready to go as he cautiously peered into the water. 

And what he saw beneath the waves made all rational thought leave his mind. 

The creature in the water was nothing but beautiful, and in the back of the captain’s mind he panicked that it was a man rather than the female sirens that most sailors spoke of. He wasn’t...he didn’t think...he hadn’t prepared for that! He saw the male siren surface a few feet away from his boat, singing in a haunting tenor tune as he swam closer to the boat. He had long, tangled, curly hair that was a dirty blonde on top and a dark brown on the bottom. But what made Taka feel completely enchanted were his eyes. Those eyes were a beautiful lavender that seemed to glow in the dim light of the lantern Taka had brought. 

“It’s been a while since anyone’s gotten this close to my home, sailor.” The siren smiled a bit at him, pulling himself up to the rim of the boat and leaning on it with his forearms. The way his tongue curled around the words so harshly made his speech almost as enchanting as his song. “A long time since anyone has been able to resist my sisters’ song.” 

“Ha.” Was the only sound Taka could make at first. He had never...felt this way for anyone before. Sure, he could appreciate the human form, and he had developed a few crushes on boys over the years, but this...this was different. This was an enchanted kind of lust. 

The siren chuckled. “Not a man of many words, hm?”

“Ah--no, usually I’m the opposite. I just...didn’t expect to see…”

“Didn’t expect to see a guy?”

“Well...yes.” Taka blushed and chuckled. “Most reports of your kind are of beautiful women. I’ve never heard of a siren being a man before.” 

The siren snorted, looking down, and Taka could see behind him that his tail flicked a bit out of the water for a moment. It looked like it was a dark indigo color, although this was only seen by the way the scales shown under the light of the lantern. “Well, most sailors are only interested in women, right? So that’s usually who does most of the hunting. Me and my brother and the rest of the guys don’t usually come out unless someone makes it this far...someone like you.” His lavender eyes flicked back up to Taka. 

Hunting, right... “So you only came out because you want to eat me.” Taka frowned. “Being this upfront with your motives gives me the impression that you aren’t very good at your job.” 

There was a flash of anger in those lavender eyes, and Taka could only grip his net tighter. “It’s not like we have a choice, we used to just hunt fish. We even rescued sailors from drowning sometimes! But your kind only consumes and takes, and so we had to start hunting what was the most available resource. You get what you fucking deserve.” The siren growled and bared his sharp teeth.

“Such crude language from a beautiful creature.” Taka frowned. “Do you think lecturing me is going to seduce me?”

“Fuck you man, you were totally seduced by my song!” 

“Well not anymore, you’ve killed the mood!” 

The siren hissed at him. “Fuck you, why are you even here?” 

Taka froze. What was he supposed to say? That he wanted to make him into a scientific experiment, an attraction for the world to see? “Uhh...why does it matter, if you just want to eat me? I didn’t think cannibalistic monsters cared about what their prey’s intentions were.” 

“None of your goddamn business what I do! Did you just come out here to lecture me about my kind’s methods of survival?” 

Leon tapped Taka’s shoulder. “Dude, you good? We should wrap this up.” He looked over at the siren and gave an awkward wave. “Sup.”

Taka sighed. He needed to figure out how to do this, the siren looked a lot bigger and stronger than him. He’d need to catch him off guard, make him vulnerable. “Your kind shouldn’t even survive in the first place. You’re nothing but murderous savages. I came here to prove that I could and see just how evil you all are.” 

“YOU FUCKER!” The siren lunged at him and into the boat, and that was Taka’s chance. He managed to dodge him and then threw the net over him. Leon managed to read the situation without any cues and used some rope to tie the siren’s wrists together. Once that was done Taka began using the net to get the rest of the siren’s tail in the boat. 

Leon grabbed the oars and began rowing them back to shore, allowing Taka to keep the siren restrained in his vulnerable state. Which wasn’t easy, since the man was hissing and thrashing like a fish out of water. 

Taka regretted asking that the tank be kept in his office before they had captured the siren. It was a huge mistake, really. For the first few days, he was being constantly distracted by the hissing and banging on the glass, and then when the creature gave up on that he began talking to the captain. For a solid week he endured the nagging, the teasing, the prying questions.

“How come you’re so pale? You’re a sea captain, shouldn’t you be tanner?” The siren poked his head out of the water in the tank, scowling at him.

“I’m naturally fair-skinned, and a naval officer, so I don’t have to be out in the sun that much.” 

“Sounds like an excuse for you to be a wuss to me, sailor.”

Taka sighed and looked up from his work. “I have a name, you know. I am Captain Kiyotaka Ishimaru. Do you sirens have names?”

“Yeah.”

There was a long pause as Taka waited for him to elaborate. “Are you going to tell me what it is?”

“Why? I’m just an object to you, a savage, right?”

Taka sighed. “I only said those things to lure you in. I didn’t mean that, I just...you eat people. That’s a little hard to accept.”

The siren made a “pff” noise of annoyance and scowled. “Only when we have to. I’ve only eaten a lil bit of human. It’s not even that good.”

“How reassuring.” Taka mumbled. He sighed and tried to use the awkward silence to work on his reports. The silence didn’t seem to last long, though.

“It’s Mondo. Mondo Oowada.” 

Taka looked up. “Hm?”

“My name. We have ‘em just like you humans do. That’s my name.” Mondo hummed a bit, and Taka couldn’t help but shiver. 

He needed to focus on getting all the necessary paperwork ready for his inventory and the report on catching the sir--...catching Mondo. But apparently Mondo realized he could distract the captain with song and began humming and quietly singing to himself, tapping out a beat with his clawed nails against the tank’s glass. It became impossible to focus as Taka felt himself begin to fall under the influence of the hauntingly beautiful music, his pen falling out of his hand and his eyes becoming lidded. 

“Here’s some dinner, Captain!” Chihiro came in and the song was interrupted. The small cook made eye contact with the large siren. “Oh...um...am I interrupting something?”

“No, not at all. Thank you for the dinner. This is for Mondo as well?” He motioned at the now pouting siren. 

“Uh...is that his name?”

Taka nodded.

“Then yes it is. I just fried some tuna, nothing too special. I used a bit of garlic, though, to add flavor.” Chihiro smiled proudly. The smaller man seemed to really enjoy his work as a cook on the ship, despite his soft appearance he was a popular crew member and got along well with almost everyone. 

Taka smiled. “Thank you, Fujisaki. I doubt it was necessary for you to put all that effort into making his meal, really. You could have just cut up something raw.” 

Chihiro hummed. “Yeah, but I felt bad for just kidnapping him and taking him from his home like that. Even if he’s a dangerous siren, I see him as more of a guest!” He smiled. 

Taka hummed. “I guess that’s one way to think about it. I don’t know what will happen to him once we reach the mainland, but for now he can be allowed such luxuries. If he behaves.” He glared at the siren and the creature grinned and gave him the finger. 

Chihiro nodded. “If you or him needs anything, let me know!” He smiled and waved to Mondo. “Bye Mondo! I’m Chihiro, by the way!” 

Mondo blinked and awkwardly waved back at the cook, eyes wide as the small man left the cabin. “He seems nice.” 

Taka nodded. “He’s a kind man, but he’s worked just as hard to be here as everyone, if not more so because of how he’s been treated over his appearance. Fujisaki is tougher than he looks.” He sighed and thought about how he would feed Mondo. He couldn’t just...drop the food in the tank. 

Mondo eyed the tuna. “Yeah...that’s for me right?” He pointed at the tuna. “You could just...like...open the top of the tank and I could...y’know...just lean against the top and eat it.” 

Taka scowled. “Oh, and you won’t try to escape or bite me?” 

"Not if you gimme tuna.” Mondo hummed and smiled a bit. “I haven’t had tuna in years…”

Taka smiled a bit. “Really? We buy most of our fish from a hatchery back in London, actually.” He grabbed the tray of food and stepped up the stepladder on the side of the tank, opening the top.

Mondo pulled himself up and snatched the plate of tuna. “The fuck’s a hatchery?”

Taka took a bite of his own food and hummed, sitting on the edge of the tank. “It’s a place where they breed and raise fish for people to eat. It’s not as good as fresh from the ocean, but it’s not terrible.” 

Mondo hummed. “It’s good enough for me. Tastes different from tuna, though. Weird spiciness to it.” 

“That’s probably the garlic Fujisaki added.” 

“I dunno what that is.” 

“It’s a spice. People put it in food to make it taste better.” 

“Oh. So that’s what spicy means.” Mondo tilted his head. 

It was funny how the siren didn’t understand what spices were yet knew the adjective describing them. Almost cute. Taka chuckled. “So did you learn English from hearing sailors?”

“Yeah.” 

“Interesting. Would you like a glass of wine?” Taka set his plate aside and began stepping down. 

Mondo gave a confused frown. “Glass of what now?” 

“Wine. Alcohol?”

“Never had it. Dunno what you mean by glass either.”

Taka sighed. “I’ll let you have a sip of my wine, and if you like it you can have your own glass.” He grabbed a bottle from the cabinet behind his desk and two glasses, pouring wine into one of them. He took the glass and carefully stepped back up the stepladder, then held out the glass to Mondo.

“You want me to drink this? It looks weird. It’s not water.”

“No, it’s...different from water. It’s good. I promise.” He smiled and took a sip. “I picked one of the better ones.” 

Mondo scowled and took the glass, taking a cautious sip. Then his face scrunched up and he spit the sip back into the glass. “That’s fuckin’ gross!” 

Taka chuckled. “It’s an acquired taste, but it does grow on you.” He took the glass back and took another sip. “Especially if you drink enough of it to get a little drunk.” 

“Drunk?”

Taka nodded. “Intoxicated.” 

Mondo still looked confused. “Is that a weird thing you humans like to do?” 

Taka snorted. “Yes. Once in a while. I don’t drink that much usually.” He nodded to Mondo’s now empty plate. “You ate that so quickly, were you really that hungry?” 

Mondo looked down and nodded. “Yeah. Good meal’s hard to come by, usually.” 

Taka shrugged. “I could ask Fujisaki to make you some more, if you’re still hungry?” He really shouldn’t waste food like this, they were still out on the open seas, after all. But seeing the siren happy and impressing him was too appealing, even if Taka couldn't put his finger on why that was. 

Mondo’s lavender eyes seemed to light up. “Could you? And maybe I can try some of that wine again?”

Taka nodded, stepping down and pouring Mondo a glass of wine. He went back up the ladder to give the siren the glass, then stepped out of his cabin to ask Chihiro for more tuna.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I apologize if the chapter endings and beginnings seem weird, I wrote this all as one long thing so it's a little awkward to divide it up.

Chihiro raised a brow when asked to make another portion of tuna. “You sure?” 

Taka nodded. “Yes, he seems like he doesn’t get fed all that much. If we’re going to show him to the world he should be in good health, right?”

Chihiro seemed to think for a minute before finally nodding. “I suppose that makes sense. Maybe add in some fruit so he gets variety?” 

Taka sighed. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt, though I’m not sure if he’s entirely carnivorous or not…” 

Chihiro nodded. “A little fruit, just in case.” 

Taka nodded and waited in the kitchen for Chihiro to finish Mondo’s food, then once it was done he walked back to his cabin. 

And Mondo wasn’t in his tank. 

At first Taka panicked and cursed himself for leaving the tank open, Mondo must have crawled out and he had probably had enough time to crawl out of the cabin...but then his eyes landed on where his desk was located, where Mondo was pouring himself another glass of wine. His cheeks were a little flushed from the alcohol, and the color darkened when Taka walked in. 

The thing that made this so strange was the fact that Mondo had legs (and was very naked). There was also a small trail of purple scales and fins on the floor. “I can explain.” Mondo mumbled. 

Taka gripped Mondo’s plate tighter and growled through his teeth, unable to control the fierce blush blooming on his cheeks. “I bet you can.” 

The siren laughed nervously. “I guess you guys don’t know that we sirens can shed our tails huh?” He sipped his wine. “Is that more tuna?” His eyebrows rose and he walked over to Taka.

“WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY THAT? DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO MAINTAIN THIS TANK!” Taka held the plate of tuna away from the grabby siren. 

“You didn’t ask! C’mon, lemme have the tuna, and what’re those things?” 

“It’s some fruit! Lying fish men don’t get fruit!” He ate a piece of fruit. “My food now.” Taka mumbled and walked over to his desk. 

Mondo practically whined and chased after him. “Aw, don’t be like that, please? I’m sorry for not telling you sooner, but I do need the tank. I can’t go that long without sea water, I need it for my health. I can just go without it temporarily.” He smiled nervously. “Please lemme have more food?”

Taka glared at him, then finally held out a slice of fruit. “At least put on some pants, being naked like this is indecent.”

Mondo took the fruit. “Why?” He pouted and ate the fruit, humming a bit, his lavender eyes wide as he seemed to lighten up from the taste of the fruit. “Woah, this tastes so sweet…” He hummed and ate more with enthusiasm.

Taka went back into his bedroom and tried to find a looser pair of pants. It wasn’t an easy task, certainly, but the baggy black pair he had would have to do. He also grabbed a white shirt as well. Hopefully they would fit. 

He returned to Mondo chowing down on the tuna and fruit, humming happily. He sat at Taka’s desk. “Here are some clothes for you to wear.” 

Mondo wrinkled his nose. “You humans are weird, I’m not cold, why should I cover myself? Fuckin’ stupid…” He pouted and gave in, pulling the pants on. 

Taka frowned and stepped up the stepladder to grab his own forgotten meal and wine. “Haven’t you ever heard of modesty?” 

Mondo ignored the shirt and put his feet up on the desk, drinking more wine. “Nope.” He mumbled after burping lightly. 

Taka folded his arms. “This is your thanks for my hospitality?”

“Uh, I was kidnapped? How is that hospitalitable?” 

“That’s not how you use that word.” 

“Whatever, point is I owe you nothing. Even if you are the pretty sailor that gives me tuna.” Mondo shrugged. 

“Pretty?” Taka scowled. “I’ll have you know that kind of talk is unacceptable.” He couldn’t help but blush a little.

Mondo grinned and took his feet off the desk, leaning forward. “Oh yeah?” He bit his lip. “How come you keep trying to impress me with all of this fancy human shit? And you keep staring at my chest?” He leaned back, stretching his arms up. “Like what you see, sailor?”

Taka felt his face go bright red. “I...I...This isn’t...It’s not…”

Mondo smirked and sipped his wine. “I’m waiting.”

Taka spluttered. “What do you think will come of these questions?”

Mondo hummed and tilted his head. “That you’ll admit you want me, that you have ever since I first caught you with my song. And now you keep tryna impress me with food and stuff.”

“Are you insisting that my being entranced by your song was inherently sexual?”

“It is sexual. That’s why you thought you could just waltz right into my home, cuz you don’t like girls and you didn’t think you’d find a boy siren. But you were wrong.” Mondo grinned, his sharp teeth glinting in the warm candlelight of Taka’s office. “You want me. You can’t even say no to me.” 

“I can say no to you!” Taka bared his teeth. “Do you think using such perverted tactics will make me let you go free?” 

“Why is it perverted?” Mondo set his food and wine down on the desk and got up, walking over to Taka. He began humming a slow and peaceful tune. 

Taka felt his heart and breath quicken as Mondo backed him up against the wall, his strong arms going up to surround Taka. “I...you don’t understand human culture, this sort of thing is wrong.”

“Why?” Mondo continued humming as he leaned forward and kissed Taka’s jaw. Taka felt his whole body shudder. “Why should it even matter? And even if it does...nobody has to know.” He smiled and tugged at Taka’s shirt tucked into his pants. “I’m good at keeping secrets, I promise.” 

Despite not drinking as much as Mondo had, Taka’s face was flushed and he was panting heavily. “You just...you’re just...trying to use me to escape.” 

“That’s what I wanted to do at first, yeah. And I almost did, when you left to get me food. But then…” Mondo sighed and touched Taka’s cheek. “You changed my mind. Even if you humans are cruel and dominating and only take, I’m kinda interested. I do plan on returning to my home someday, but I’ll bring all your fancy human shit to help my family. My people.” 

“That’s still using me.” Taka scowled. 

Mondo pulled Taka’s shirt up and ran his hand over Taka’s stomach. “You used me. You wanna show me off to the humans, right? I’m just returning the favor.” He hummed and began kissing Taka’s neck. So he knew about why he was captured...at least Taka could skip the anxiety of having to tell him that. “We could always work together. Give each other what we want...and then some.” He pressed his thigh against Taka’s crotch. 

Taka gasped and couldn’t resist bucking his hips into Mondo’s touch, whining a bit. “You’re...you’re despicable.”

“But you want me.” Mondo smiled and held Taka’s cheek, then gently pulled him forward for a kiss. 

Taka closed his eyes and let Mondo lead the kiss, considering this was his first one ever. The siren’s lips were soft, and he felt Mondo pull his hips forward to grind against him. He couldn’t help but wrap his arms around Mondo’s neck and moan. He gasped when he felt Mondo’s sharp teeth nip at his bottom lip, and the siren took the opportunity to work his tongue into Taka’s mouth. 

Taka wrapped his leg around Mondo’s hip for better access as they grinded against each other, trying to push his tongue back against Mondo’s to deepen the kiss. He finally felt Mondo break the kiss and was surprised to find himself gasping for air. “We barely know each other...we shouldn’t…”

“So? And why not? You want me, I want you. We can help each other out.” Mondo began kissing his neck with a smirk. “Promise I won’t hurt you, unless you want me to.” He nipped at his neck and chuckled. 

Taka gasped and bucked his hips. “W-we should slow down, really. I’m not, I’m not ready to go that far yet. Please?”

Mondo heaved a long sigh and pulled back. “Fine. I wanna sleep in your bed with you though, just cuz I don’t have a tail doesn’t mean I’m magically warm-blooded.” As he pulled back Taka noticed that Mondo had small gills on each side of his neck. He couldn’t help but stare as Mondo went back to Taka’s desk and sat on his chair. 

“That’s my spot.” Taka frowned at him. 

Mondo hummed through a bite of tuna. “Now it’s my spot.” 

“Clearly you do not understand how property works.” Taka decided that two could play at this game and approached the siren. He figured the larger man would get mad and give up this game if he sat down on Mondo’s lap.

Instead Mondo wrapped his arms around Taka’s waist and kissed his neck. “We can share, good idea.” He hummed and seemed to inhale deeply as he nuzzled Taka’s neck.

Taka gulped. “Wh...what are you doing?” 

“Memorizing your scent, I like it.” 

Taka frowned. “You like it as in you like the way the delicious tuna smells?”

Mondo scowled. “No, I like your scent because you were nice to me and fed me. It’s a comfort thing. You humans don’t do it?” 

Taka made a huffing noise. “No we do not! This is strange!” 

Mondo hummed and kissed his cheek. “Okay, I’ll stop.” He sighed. “Are you really afraid I’ll try to eat you?” He seemed almost...hurt at the idea.

But Taka was a man of honesty. “Yes.”

“That’s not fair.” He sighed. “I mean, if you’re stuck without any food, what else do you do? How else do you expect my kind to survive, huh?” He glared at him. “You keep all the fish for yourselves in those hatcheries and shit, what are we supposed to eat?” 

Taka bit his lip and tried to organize his papers a bit. “You really only eat people as a last resort? And you won’t try to eat me?” 

“Promise.” Mondo kissed his jaw. “You’re startin’ to grow on me, even if you are a pain in the ass.” He hummed. “I’m scared of going on land, though. All the people, being away from the sea...it sounds like a shitstorm I’m not ready for.”

Taka gently took his hand. How had he managed to get this physically close with a creature he had only known for a week and a half? “We’ll be staying close to the port, you’ll be within walking distance of the ocean always. And if you need some space I’ll make sure everyone backs off, okay?” He took Mondo’s hand and kissed the back of it. “I’ll protect you as best I can.”

Mondo hummed and nuzzled his back. “Thank you. Even if you were a dick and kidnapped me, this is all turning out pretty well. As long as you hold up your end of things, I’ll hold up mine.” 

Taka nodded. “I will do my best to help you. Now please let me finish this report.” He smiled and reached behind himself to pinch Mondo’s side.

He earned a yelp from the siren, who snickered and returned the favor. “Asshole.”

Taka yelped and twisted. “I’m serious, I need to focus!” He giggled. 

Mondo groaned and wrapped his arms around him, rubbing his stomach. “Hurry up, or else I’ll get bored. Whatever this is, it already looks boring.” He kissed Taka’s neck.

“Mm, then stop and let me get it done.” Taka closed his eyes, unable to resist enjoying the sensation of the siren’s lips on his throat. 

And that’s when Leon picked the perfect time to walk in. “Alright, so I did an inventory count and I’m turnin’ in the paperwork like you asked…” He looked up from his slip of paper he was holding. “Oh. I can...come back later.” He raised a brow.

Taka felt his face go bright red and his features shift from a look of pleasure to one of horror at being caught in such a scandalous act. “Uh… I can, I can explain!”

“I would love to hear the explanation you can come up with for this.” Leon smirked. 

He heard Mondo snort behind him, and Taka couldn’t help but glare at the siren. “What do you want to know first?”

Leon shrugged. “I don’t care about the romantic shit, it’s your business and you’re a good captain. I can keep my mouth shut. But I’d be a lil more careful in the future, if I were you.”

“You could have knocked before coming in! I should put a sign outside my door…” Taka grumbled.

“Whatever. I’m just curious about how he got out of the tank. And where the legs came from...” Leon ducked down a bit to look under Taka's desk to see if the siren had legs. 

Taka sighed. “Apparently sirens can shed their tails, and the annoying fish man only decided to tell me after I caught him out of the tank.” He grunted as he felt Mondo gently pinch his side. 

“‘M not an annoying fish man.” 

“You’re annoying and you’re part fish, part man. So you’re an annoying fish man.” Taka scowled behind him. He only received a pout in protest from the siren. An irritatingly cute pout. 

Leon nodded, starting to look a little uncomfortable at witnessing the affection going on between the other two men. “Okay...um. Good to know. Do you need anything else tonight, or…”

“No, I’ll be fine. Just make sure that I’m not disturbed and if anything goes wrong you’re in charge, as the second highest ranking officer on this ship.” Taka blushed and spoke all too quickly. 

“Gotcha...what should I tell the others?” Leon shrugged. “I mean, the fact that you’re leaving me in charge is kinda weird.”

Taka groaned and ran a hand through his hair. “Just tell them I’m not feeling well. Or that I’m keeping watch over Mondo. Whatever gets me out of working tonight.”

Leon raised a brow. “Damn, never heard you wanting to avoid work in all my years of working with you. And...is Mondo the siren’s name?”

“Your damn straight it is.” Mondo mumbled and began kissing Taka’s neck again. 

Leon began backing out of Taka’s cabin, looking uncomfortable. “Right, well, I’ll leave...I’ll leave you two to it then!”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> oop I wrote smut. I feel like I've been writing it a lot lately, and objectively that's kinda weird but at the same time smut is something I'm not used to writing so I'm trying to develop myself more as a writer with that? I dunno man, if it's too much or doesn't make sense I apologize. I'm just a simple man, trying his best.

Taka gulped and tried to keep quiet as Leon left. “You really are shameless…”

Mondo chuckled against his skin and Taka shivered. “I don’t get why I need to be ashamed. This is totally natural.”

“No it isn’t.” Taka frowned. “Invertedness isn’t natural.”

Mondo rolled his eyes. “I don’t know what the fuck invertedness means but it sounds like a dumb term. We’re just two people who are into each other. I see nothing wrong with that. You humans are so fucking weird…” He grumbled and nipped at Taka’s neck.

Taka couldn’t help but moan a little. “Not as strange as your kind. You haven’t even told me much about your customs.”

Mondo sighed and pulled away from Taka’s neck. “What do you wanna know?”

Taka shrugged and grabbed his pen, hoping the talking would allow Mondo to keep his hands off the captain and finally let him focus enough to finish his work. “Do you speak your own language? Do you celebrate holidays or births? What are your marriage customs?”

“That’s a lotta questions at once. But…” Mondo sighed. “We have our own language, yeah. It’s mostly humming and sounds that you humans can’t even hear, since that’s kinda the only way to communicate underwater.” He trilled his lips. “We celebrate births, and what you would call the equinox. There are a couple other holidays mixed in, but that’s about it. And I dunno what the fuck marriage is.” 

Taka blinked, eyes wide. “It’s...it’s when a man and a woman agree to stay with each other until death.”

Mondo scowled. “That sounds stupid. And is it seriously just a dude and a chick? One, normal-ass dude and one, normal-ass chick? That doesn't even make sense, I mean, romantic shit is so much more complicated than that." 

"Oh? And you carnivorous sirens know so much about love?" Taka frowned back at him.

"You bet your ass we do." Mondo retorted just as quickly as Taka had to him. "We just...we just go with what we feel. Sometimes people stay together for a long time, sometimes not. And it's not always just one guy and one girl, sometimes it's more people than that, with different kinds of people." 

This all sounded so strange and unrestrained to Taka's Victorian decency. "What? That's insane! What about the children?" 

Mondo gave him a weirded-out look. "What about 'em?" 

Taka couldn't help but make a weird noise in the back of his throat. "What will they think? Who will raise them?"

Mondo raised a confused brow. "They'll think that embracing your emotions and desires is okay, and everyone in a community kinda chips in to helping with the kids. A lot of kids are raised by their birth parents, yeah, but there are some who gotta be taken in by other people." 

"Embracing such sinful desires is not okay! It's wrong! You can't just be so...open about those things!" Taka hissed at Mondo. 

Mondo frowned in confusion, then that frown seemed to morph into a look of understanding. He sighed and rubbed his side. "I think I'm starting to get human culture a lil. So you just...hold in and hide your feelings?"

"Yes!" 

"Mmhmm...and how's that workin' out for you?" Mondo rested his chin on Taka's back with an expectant look.

Taka glared at him for a long moment, wanting to defend his own beliefs and morals but at the same time wanting to be honest. "It's...it's difficult. Especially when...when you're someone like me." He swallowed hard. "If anyone found out what I really was, I would lose everything, or be chemically castrated, or a combination of the two." 

Mondo sighed and wrapped his arms around him, hugging him from behind. "'M sorry. I didn't mean to turn it into some argument. It's just...weird is all. You guys are so strange, and scary. But I like you, so far at least. Getting to know you these past couple days, watching you and shit, it's been nice. You're smart and determined and you work hard. You deserve to be happy, to have what everyone else has." He kissed his neck. 

Taka shook his head and put his pen down, finally admitting defeat on finishing this stupid report. He was half tempted to shred it and let Mondo go at this point. He deserved freedom and the chance to go back to his family, after everything. "Don't worry about it, human society is rather restrictive, it'll take a lot of adjustment for you if you decide to stay with me." 

"Decide?" The siren asked it like it was a question. 

Taka sighed and nodded, making his own decision. He picked up the report and began tearing it apart, then managed to wriggle out of Mondos arms to start burning the pieces in a lantern that was lit nearby. "The royal navy won't know about this. You can go back to your home, if you let us stop at a port and replenish our supplies I can take you back to it." 

There was a long stretch of silence as Taka burned the papers that were proof of Mondo's existence before the siren spoke. "Why?" 

Taka watched the paper burn, his writing turning to embers and then to ash. "You don't deserve that life, and if we're going to have any sort of relationship it needs to be on equal terms. And...and I've begun to worry about what would happen to you if I did turn you in to the royal navy. So I won't, to keep you safe." 

He felt surprised at the feeling of strong arms wrapping around him from behind. "Thank you. I think I will stay, at least for a little bit. Just to learn about humans 'n stuff. And maybe for a certain cute sailor." He chuckled and nipped at Taka's neck.

Taka laughed and he couldn't help but shiver a bit. "You can't live here for free, then. You'll have to work as a crew member sometimes."

"Oh yeah? Want me to be your sexy cabin boy?" Mondo growled and slipped his hands up Taka's shirt. 

"Mondo, I swear if you don't control yourself I will throw you overboard." Taka felt himself shudder as he spoke, feeling those cool hands on his stomach. 

Mondo snickered and began pulling him away from his office, towards his sleeping chambers. "Oh no, what am I gonna do, drown? However will I survive such a violent punishment?" 

Taka turned around and poked the siren's stomach, earning him a yelp. "That's it, no more tuna for you, I'll burn it all." 

That seemed to stop Mondo, since he immediately gave a distressed whine and grabbed Taka's hands. "Don't you fuckin' dare!" 

"You should watch your language too, it's really quite indecent." 

"You use that word a lot, it's getting on my nerves. And I heard other guys on your ship cursin' like this, why's it a problem?" 

Taka rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. You can curse as much as you like when we're at sea, but when we dock you need to control your language. Or else no more tuna for the fish man." 

Mondo took Taka's hand and put it on his cheek, kissing his palm. "That makes the fish man sad." 

Taka smiled and pulled him down for a kiss. "I'll make it up to you, I'm sure." He smirked a bit, feeling a little more confident than before. 

Mondo grinned and bit his lip, pulling him closer. "Promise?" 

Taka kissed his neck, humming. Mondo's skin was surprisingly soft, and when he ran his tongue over his gills he felt the larger man violently shudder and heard him moan. It seemed someone had a sensitive spot. "I promise." 

"Tonight?" Mondo breathed, wrapping his arms around him. 

Taka hummed against his gills and he was rewarded with a whine from Mondo as he felt the larger man practically melt. "I'm not actually sure how much I could do tonight. I don't have any experience with that stuff." 

There was a pause, then he felt Mondo grab his shoulders and push him to arm's length to stare at him in confusion. "But you're like, an adult." 

"Yes, I'm twenty-five actually. Why is that important?" 

Mondo shook his head. "We measure time differently, so that age has no meaning for me. But like...how have you never had any sex? Ever?" 

Taka blinked. "Well...I never found the time for it, I suppose." 

Mondo scowled. "You suppose?" He groaned and rolled his eyes, then grabbed Taka's hand and dragged him the rest of the way to his sleeping chambers. 

"Wh-! What are you doing? Let go of me at once!" Taka squawked, but was ignored as Mondo pushed him onto the bed and began tugging off his shirt. 

"Lemme make that lost time up to you, sailor." He smirked and kissed Taka harshly. 

Once Taka managed to regain his composure from the kiss he tried to tug Mondo's hands away from his shirt. "Do we need to take all of our clothes off?" 

Mondo tilted his head. "Why? Somethin' wrong?" 

Taka felt his face heat up with a dark blush. "Um…no. I suppose not. Just...don't judge me. For whatever you see. Most of what's under my clothing is from when I was drunk or from a dare. Or both. It's not a common occurrence for me but when it happens...oh, it happens." He chuckled nervously. 

It seemed his warning only spurred the siren on, since Mondo practically ripped his shirt from his body. He could only blush harder as he felt the larger man's eyes on him. "Are those…?" 

Taka covered his chest with his hands, hiding his nipple piercings out of shame. "A dare! It was a dare! I was socializing with superior officers and it was a dare! I don't want to talk about it!" He felt like his face was on fire from embarrassment. 

Mondo raised a brow. "Fair enough." He smiled and kissed Taka gently, his hands moving to rub the captain's chest. "You got any like, lube?" 

He only earned a confused stare. "For what?" 

Mondo rolled his eyes. "To skate across the deck of your ship, what the fuck do you think it's for?" 

What...what did Mondo mean? Taka only felt more confusion and embarrassment now. "Do you mean...for fornication?" He whispered the last part as if it were a secret.

Mondo scowled. "Yes, Taka. For sex. Do you...understand how sex between two dudes works?" He looked concerned. 

Taka shrugged. "I understand the basic mechanics of it, but...it's not really something they teach you in primary school or the navy!" He flushed as his voice rose. "But I mean...wouldn't it hurt? I'm...not so sure I'm ready to do it if it hurts like that." 

"Well I was gonna be the one to take it, I wanted to ride you. But it doesn't have to hurt if you use enough lube and preparation." Mondo shrugged. 

"Ohhh...that makes sense. I think I have some scented oils we managed to get when we stopped at a port town in Asia, would that work?" Taka tried to sit up to grab the oils. 

Mondo smiled and crawled off of him a bit. "Yeah, that sounds good. Just hurry up, baby. I'm gettin' impatient." He began kissing Taka's neck and humming a slow tune. 

Taka swallowed hard and his eyes went lidded. "Can't...hurry if you don't let me...hmm, focus." He managed to breathe out. 

Luckily the siren showed some mercy and stopped singing long enough to allow him to grab the oil and hold it out to Mondo. "Okay, now what?" 

Mondo shrugged. "You wanna help me?"

Taka bit his lip and shrugged. "If you show me what to do, then yes." 

Mondo heaved a sigh of relief. "Good, my nails are sharp, so doin' it myself would have been…" He winced. "Just get plenty of oil on your fingers and I'll show you what to do."

Taka easily did as he was told and managed to follow the siren's instruction easily enough. "So...does it feel...good?" He felt a little worried when he had started fingering the larger man and only received a look of discomfort.

"Not...yet. Just keep hitting different spots and angles and shit." Mondo grunted and his face scrunched up a bit.

"But if it doesn't feel good for you then why am I doing it?" Taka scowled up at the siren.

"Just fucking do what I said and it'll eventually feel--ah! There!" Mondo's angry growl was cut off by a long moan. "Right there, sailor." He breathed. 

There was a brief pause as Taka froze with wide-eyed shock and stared up at his new lover. The way that Mondo's face went from discomfort to pleasure was...strange, and yet...he couldn't help but attempt to hit the same spot again, biting his lip in concentration. 

He was apparently doing it correctly, since the lovely creature above him was clinging to his chest while being reduced to a panting, moaning mess. He was bucking his hips down onto Taka’s fingers. "More, please gimme more, it feels so good…" 

Taka gulped and slowly worked in another finger, albeit a bit clumsily. Despite his quirks, Taka had always been good at taking orders. "How can this feel good? You weren't enjoying it before…" 

"Cuz, hmm, you gotta hit the right spot or, ohhh, it feels weird. You'll get better at this s-stuff eventually, j-just need practice. You're a, ah, natural though." Mondo bit his lip and let out a long moan. 

Taka found himself flushing bright red at seeing the larger man so debauched. For them to have gotten to this point so quickly was a little frightening and irrational, and yet Taka seemed to keep throwing caution and rationality to the wind for this siren. "This is just surprising, seeing as you're such a strong specimen and have more experience than I do, I would think that you'd want to be the one...ahem, it would be the other way around." He couldn't help but mumble. 

He couldn't help but yip as he felt Mondo tug at one of his nipple rings in annoyance. "Doesn't make me any less manly to be takin' it up the ass, fucker. Uhnn, shit, I just, I figured it'd be easier for you and, and it's not like it doesn't, fuck, doesn't feel good for me…" He groaned and began tugging at Taka's belt. 

"I was just curious, I meant no offense." He mumbled and took his unoccupied hand from Mondo's hip to help with his belt. "Are you sure you're ready? Shouldn't I...do more?" 

Mondo shook his head. "No, I'm ready baby, please." He almost whined. "Want you in me so bad, wanna...wanna ride your cock." 

Taka could only stare at him with cartoonishly wide eyes as he felt his face go tomato red at Mondo's dirty talk. "Oh." He cleared his throat. "C-carry on, then. Just hope that...I don't disappoin--ohhh." He found his mind going completely blank as Mondo's hand found his dick. 

Mondo smirked down at him. "I don't think that'll be a problem, sailor." He gave a quick kiss and tugged down Taka's pants, gently pushing Taka's hands away to take control. 

"If I hurt you at all, don't be afraid to stop, I don't want to hurt you." Taka mumbled as the siren positioned himself over him. He almost felt intimidated, the way Mondo had managed to change so much for him in such a short time. And here he was, taking his pleasure by using Taka. Not that he minded, of course. 

But it was getting so hard to reflect on that as Mondo sank down onto his cock. Despite being cold-blooded, the siren was so tight and warm that it made Taka's head swim for a solid minute. “Wooaah…” He breathed, his eyes rolling back a bit. 

Mondo smirked down at him. “You’re not gonna last long, huh?”

Taka panted and grabbed at Mondo’s hips. “W...huh?”

Mondo snorted and shook his head, then lifted himself up and slammed himself back down on Taka’s dick, causing the naval captain let out a very loud and...undignified sound. “Fucking Christ!” He mumbled as Mondo began slowly bouncing on him.

“Heh...you do swear huh?” Mondo chuckled and moaned a bit. 

Taka scowled at him. “Sh...shut up!”

“D-did you, mm, learn that in the navy?” Mondo grinned down at him. 

Taka grunted and began thrusting his hips up to meet Mondo’s hips. “You learn...a lot of things...in the navy.” He mumbled. 

When the Siren went faster Taka found himself once again making another loud, undignified noise. It was a cross between a whine and a moan. “Babe, you gotta quiet down... or else someone will hear. A-and I think we traumatized that poor first mate ‘o yours enough.” Mondo bit his lip and groaned. “But you do feel really good baby…” 

Taka found his hands wandering up Mondo’s toned chest, the pressure and heat in his gut building. “Y...you’re so beautiful. It’s not fair…” He closed his eyes and thrusted harder into Mondo. “Never stood a chance against your charms…” 

Mondo gave a breathless chuckle. “Yeah? Well you’re a pretty huge asshole yourself, bein’ all cute and sweet like that...didn’t expect you to be ripped underneath your uniform…”

Taka snorted and shifted a bit, his back feeling a bit strained in the angle he was thrusting in. And apparently what he’d shifted into was the correct angle, because Mondo cried out and let his head fall back. “Wh...was that okay?”

“Fuck, yeah, it was so perfect, sailor!” He whined and bounced faster on him. Well, someone was being a hypocrite about not being loud. But nonetheless, the erotic sounds and the way Mondo tightened around him made him thrust up faster. 

Taka groaned and closed his eyes. “M-mondo...I’m close.” 

“Me too, baby.” Mondo whined and grabbed Taka’s hand, kissing his fingertips. It was such a...gentle and affectionate gesture that tugged at the lonely, touch-starved part of Taka and finally drove him over the edge, his hips bucking as he groaned out Mondo’s name.

He felt Mondo shiver and come on his stomach soon after, still clinging onto Taka’s hand. After a few moments of catching his breath, he rolled off of Taka and laid next to him. “So...whatcha think?”

Taka snorted and nodded, still out of breath. “Two...enthusiastic thumbs up.”

Mondo smiled and turned over to wrap his arms around Taka, pulling him close. “You’re so warm...I’m jealous of you warm-blooded people. Must be nice to just magically heat yourself like that.” 

Taka chuckled. “It’s more complicated than that. But we should clean up a bit before we fall asleep.”

“Hm-mm. Too warm and sleepy.” Mondo clung to him tighter and Taka sighed. 

“Mondo…”

“Taka.” Mondo began humming a lullaby and stroking his hair, the song making him feel incomprehensibly sleepy and safe.

Goddammit...


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally I have updated something! :D

When Taka woke up the next morning, he couldn't help but feel a bolt of anxiety shoot through him at the empty bed. It was early in the morning, he always woke up before the others since he was the captain. So there was no way Mondo would just be awake. 

Taka went to his office quick, checking the tank there. Also empty. Okay. Don't panic. Taka kept repeating that to himself as he left his cabin and went to talk to Leon. 

Leon was on the deck, yelling orders. "Yo, captain! Have a good night in?" He winked. 

Taka blushed and scowled. "I suppose, have you seen Mondo?" 

Leon smirked and pointed to where Mondo was helping the crew tie sales. "The guy's a fucking natural, man. He just...knows exactly how to get the sail to catch the wind perfectly. Must be a magic fish sense or somethin'."

Taka smiled in relief and walked over, standing under where Mondo was sitting on a beam, tying the sail. "Good morning!"

Mondo looked down and waved. "Mornin'!" He grinned and used a rope to get down onto the deck. 

Taka chuckled. "Wow, who knew you'd take to sailing like a…" He bit his lip.

"A fish to water?" Mondo smirked. "'S instinct, I know the direction of the winds, when there's gonna be a storm..." He shrugged. 

"That's incredible, I never realized sirens knew that sort of thing." 

"You never gave any of us a chance to tell you about it." Mondo scowled. 

Taka cleared his throat. "Right...did you get some breakfast yet?"

Mondo nodded. "Mhm." He smiled. "Did you eat yet?" 

Taka shook his head. "Not yet, no." 

Mondo pouted. "You should then." 

Taka folded his arms. "Why are you so concerned?" He frowned. 

Mondo looked down and shrugged. "Just...just take care of yourself, okay?" He tilted his head. "I...I like you. And the fact that you were willing to set aside pride and status for me...it means a lot." 

Taka sighed. "Fine, I'll eat something quick and then we can get started with the day."

Mondo nodded. "You mind if I use the tank in your office a bit? I'm tired and I wanna relax." 

"That's fine, as long you don't mind my company." 

Mondo grinned. "Not at all. If anything, you could join me if you wanted." 

Taka chuckled. "You want me to just hop into your tank?"

"Don't see why not." Mondo shrugged. "I tried your bed and liked it well enough, try what I've got."

Taka sighed. "How can you be tired when you just woke up?"

Mondo began walking back to Taka's office. "I'm not used to being away from the ocean this long. I mean, being near it helps, but not actually being in it is hard."

Taka bit his lip, feeling a bit concerned. "What if you...what if we stopped for a bit and you swam around in the ocean? Would that make you feel better?"

"I'd feel a lot better, but would you let me do that?" 

Taka sighed. "I want to say no, because I'm afraid you'll escape, but if you want to escape I have no right to stop you." He nodded and gave a tight smile. "I'll go talk to the crew and see what I can do." 

After lunch, Taka finally had the chance to use a lifeboat to lower him and Mondo down to the open water. It was clear that Mondo was excited, the way his knees bounced and his happy grin. "Thanks again!" He tugged off the loose white shirt he'd been wearing and began taking off his pants. 

Taka smiled and nodded, looking down for politeness sake. He couldn't help but silently pray that the siren wouldn't escape. 

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Mondo's hand taking his. "You wanna swim with me?" 

Taka blinked. "Oh, I...uh, I suppose if you'll give me a moment…" He started unbuttoning his jacket. He heard a splash and saw Mondo in the water, lavender eyes wide and excited. "C'mon, get all those stinkin' clothes off and get in!" 

Taka chuckled. "Why are you so excited for this?" He felt his stomach curl. "You aren't going to drown me, are you?"

Mondo frowned, practically deflating. "No...after last night I would never hurt you on purpose. I promise." He took Taka's hand and kissed it. "You showed me some of your world last night, I just...thought I'd try and return the favor a lil. Even if your sad human body can't handle being underwater too long and you can't handle too much pressure." He sighed and smiled. 

Taka chuckled. "Okay, just let me get my jacket and shirt and shoes off and I'll join you." He couldn't help but notice Mondo's tail flick out of the water. "Could I...get a better look at that?" 

"My tail?" 

Taka nodded and smiled. Mondo chuckled and pulled himself up on the edge of the boat, then moved his tail so that it poked out of the water. Just enough for Taka to see the end of it. "You didn't get a good enough look when I was in that tank?"

"Didn't really pay attention…" Taka mumbled, his hand reaching out to run over the delicate mauve fins. "They're beautiful…" 

He was lightly splashed as the end of Mondo's tail disappeared into the water. "Alright, stop gawkin' and get in here." He snorted, and Taka couldn't help but note the bright blush on his cheeks.

Taka finally finished taking off what he needed to and got into the water, shivering. "Oo, it's very cold. I won't b-be able to stay in here f-for long." He chuckled breathily and tread the water, his teeth clacking. 

"Guess that's the downside of bein' warm-blooded, huh baby?" Mondo chuckled and pulled him into his arms. "Just swim with me for a lil bit and then you can go back to the ship and warm up."

Taka nodded and gave a shivering hum. "D-don't want to get pneumonia." 

"What's that?"

"It's an infection--" Before Taka could finish the sentence he felt himself being pulled down into the ocean, the water quickly becoming darker around him despite it being the middle of the day. Even if he was in the navy and was usually good at diving, he hadn't had much of a chance to hold his breath and the fact that he had been dragged down out of nowhere made panic set in quickly. He looked down, kicking at the assailant. All he could see was a vague form of a siren and a pair of glowing lavender eyes. Perhaps his lack of trust had been well founded after all…

His lungs burned and the fire in them only grew the longer he was trapped in the water, kicking and panicking. He couldn't even see at this point, he was just mindlessly flailing in panic until his vision began to darken and his mouth opened in an instinctual and traitorous attempt to gasp for air. 

"...Fuckin', Taka wake up! Don't you fucking die on me goddammit!" 

Taka could vaguely understand the words being shouted in his face as he started coughing up water onto the small boat that they had been in before. And before he could even process that he had barely survived being drowned he was pulled into a tight hug. "Shit, Taka I'm so sorry! I didn't think, I didn't expect anybody to catch up with us like that! I thought it was safe…" Mondo sniffled. 

Taka grunted and finally croaked. "What happened?" 

Mondo pulled back, his eyes misty. "My brother, he musta chased after me after you guys took me. We've been on the move this whole time, so he prolly only got the chance now to catch up, and I fucking...I fucking led you right to him…" Mondo rubbed his eyes. "Fuck!" 

Taka took his hand and kissed Mondo's eyelid. "You saved my life?" 

"I was the reason you almost died to begin with!" 

"But you saved me." Taka smiled and pulled him into a hug. "You're kinder than I originally expected…"

Mondo shook his head. "No, you were right the first time. Being with me just causes trouble…" 

Taka shushed him softly, rubbing his back. "It wasn't your fault, your brother was probably just trying to rescue you. The fact that you saved me instead of just letting him kill me shows that you aren't a monster. And being with you...this is the happiest I've been in, well...ever." He smiled and kissed Mondo's head. 

Mondo slowly looked up at him, his eyes uncharacteristically wide and meek. "You mean it?" 

Taka nodded, smiling. "Mhm. Every word." 

Mondo looked down. "Could I...could I try to talk to my brother? Just so this doesn't happen again…" 

"That would be preferable, yes." Taka nodded, swallowing hard. "I'll go back to the ship and wait, and also try to warm up…" He pulled on his jacket, trying to get some warmth. 

Mondo had quickly noted a few things about humans. 

One, they were uptight as all hell. Don't swear this, don't say that, put on some pants. All these dumb rules and the dumb land people weren't any happier for them. It was almost funny. 

Two, some of them were actually quite nice, despite a lot of them being assholes. Taka, while at first was an asshole, quickly became nice. Chihiro was also very kind to him. But he liked Taka more. The way he spoke, the way he looked, the way he smelled…it had been hard to resist his awkward yet endearing charm. 

And three, they were so fragile. Bodies that couldn't withstand high pressure or intense temperatures, unable to breathe underwater, dull senses...there were a thousand and one ways a human could be killed, and a good third of them had to do with being out at sea. The more time he spent with Taka, the more he worried. 

He found Daiya in a grotto nearby, deep in the water, much too deep for a human. It was an odd feeling, to want to both throttle and hug his brother at the same time. "You got away from those bastards then." Daiya smiled. 

Mondo sighed. "Daiya...it's not what you think, okay?"

Daiya scowled. "I highly doubt that, but I'll hear you out." 

"The sailor you tried to drown...he's really kind. He was going to turn me in to the navy for a promotion but then he burned all the records of it happening and he lets me stay on the ship with him. I really like him, a lot. And I like learning about humans too." He looked down. And I'm tired of living as second best, in your shadow, he wanted to say but couldn't. Taka made him feel special, and like an individual rather than just Daiya's little brother. 

Daiya shook his head. "Some sweet words and charm doesn't mean anything, little bro. He could be tricking you into believing what he says, he could turn on you when you're vulnerable. Don't leave the sea, Mondo." Daiya looked at him, worried. "It's not safe out there, their world isn't made for us." 

Mondo frowned. "How the hell would you know, you've never been on it. All we do is complain about the humans and lash out, what about learning the rules of their game and getting good at it? Maybe instead of separating ourselves from them we could…we could maybe join 'em." 

"This is insane, let's just get home and forget about this…" Daiya grabbed his arm. 

Mondo pulled away, growling. "I don't wanna go home! Home fucking sucks! I'm tired of starving and eating people, and I'm tired of hating humans! I wanted to try and tell you what was going on with me, and ask you to leave Taka alone."

Daiya growled. "Are you kidding me? That bastard puts a finger in the ocean and I'll fucking drag him down." He shook his head. "Turning against your own kind, running away like this...this isn't going to end well at all." 

Mondo shook his head. "You're wrong, I'll come back and make life better for all of us. I'm not turning against you, I just...I wanna help. And this is the best way to do that." 

Daiya sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I wanna believe you…"

"Then do it! Trust me when I say I wanna make home a better place for everyone!" 

Daiya snorted. "I doubt it's going well right now. Everyone is prolly worried sick about you, I know I fucking was." He pulled him into a hug. "You're my baby brother. I'm supposed to protect you and instead I let some nasty humans steal you away." 

Mondo sighed and hugged back. "That's how it was at first, yeah, but...Taka is really sweet, if you just gave him a chance you would change your mind. I think...I might be kinda fallin' for him." He smiled a bit and closed his eyes. "I'm not sure he trusts me yet, but I wanna protect him and be with him and seeing him makes me feel really fucking happy." 

Daiya groaned. "Fuckin' human stole my baby brother's heart…" 

Mondo snorted. "Aw, it's not so bad. I'll bring back a bunch of tuna!" 

Daiya raised a brow. "You can get enough tuna to do that?" 

Mondo grinned and nodded. "Humans have got these things called hatcheries where they breed fish and raise 'em to feed to people. They got a shit ton of 'em!" 

Daiya sighed. "Fine, but I'm gonna be following you guys. Check in with me like, every day or else your boyfriend is fish food." 

Taka was wrapped in a few blankets, sitting on a stool in front of the fireplace with a cup of hot tea when Mondo came back in. "I reasoned with him, as long as I check in with him once a day he'll leave you alone." He hugged Taka from behind. "Warmed up?"

Taka hummed and yawned. "Yes, but I'm feeling a bit tired. I might take some time to rest before getting to some of the work that needs to be done today."

Mondo kissed his neck. "Go rest, I'll tell the others and help out around the ship."

"Alright, don't stay out too late, I want to hold you tonight." He turned and kissed Mondo gently. "I've never shared a bed with someone like that before, it was so comforting. I don't think I've ever slept so well. In fact, I think I accidentally overslept." 

"You did, Leon told me." 

"Mm." Taka leaned on him, closing his eyes. "On the other hand, spoiling myself like this will just make letting you go later that much more difficult." 

"Letting me go?" Mondo nuzzled his neck. 

Taka sighed. "Well, yes. Haven't you ever heard tales of sailors falling in love with your kind? They either die or end up heartbroken." 

There was a long pause as Mondo held him, the fire crackling as he thought. "What if I don't want that? What if I tried to stay with you? What if...what if I like it here?" Mondo held him a little tighter. 

Taka smiled. "I won't stop you or force you to leave, darling. But... we're so different, and you're going to get homesick eventually. It's only a matter of time. It might be better to just distance myself so I don't feel so heartbroken when you leave." 

Mondo pulled away and walked around to face Taka. "Why do you keep saying that?" His eyes looked misty as he glared at him. "Why do you keep assuming that I'll hurt you? I'm not a monster, okay? I thought you got that last night! I thought that was pretty fucking clear when I saved you!" 

Taka sniffled, feeling a little overwhelmed now. "I just...this is all so new and fast and I just...I don't want to get hurt. So I guess I'm just being more guarded? And being in the navy, hearing all the stories of mermaids and sirens and how all the tales end in tragedy...I don't want to get my hopes up. I'm scared of trusting you, is that what you want to hear?" He wiped his eyes, feeling his stomach twist in embarrassment.

Mondo pulled him close, hugging him tightly. "I won't do that, I won't leave you or hurt you. Showing me kindness like this, letting me do what I want, I'm not gonna just up and leave or hurt you." He rubbed his back. "I understand, not wanting to trust people. I didn't wanna trust you at first either. But maybe trusting each other is the way we're gonna avoid being another sad story. Does that make sense?" He sniffled a bit. 

Taka nuzzled his chest. "I'm sorry." 

"It's okay. Just finish that weird hot water you got and I'll put you to bed." 

Taka chuckled and pulled back. "It's tea, it's good." He held it up. "Chamomile, you should try some." 

Mondo eyed the beverage with suspicion before taking the mug, then took a cautious sip. He seemed to be in deep thought for a few moments before nodding. "'S not terrible." 

Taka chuckled and sipped his tea. "So, no more surprise drowning attempts from your brother or any other sirens I hope?" 

Mondo nodded. "Mhm, as long as I check in with him he'll let me do what I want." He smirked and kissed Taka, nipping his bottom lip. "Even you." 

Taka snorted. "Okay, calm down, it's not even dinner time yet." He nuzzled Mondo's neck. "Thank you, I can't say that enough. For saving me back there. You could have let me drown and escaped but you didn't. For that, I think you do deserve more trust and faith, so I'll try to give you that." 

Mondo kissed the back of his neck. "I just don't want you to get hurt." 

Taka nodded. "I feel the same for you." He pulled back and sighed. "But right now, I feel very tired and my bed is looking nice right now. I'm going to take a nap before dinner, try not to burn down the ship in that time. Or let Leon burn it down." He kissed his nose and got up, taking his cape of blankets along with him.


End file.
